Eulogy
Read By Dr. Gerald Moniz
Doctor Manual Joseph D'Cruz,
son of Priscila and Lawrence D'Cruz
was born on 25th December 1928 in Nairobi, Kenya. He was fondly
known as Manu, Doc or Dr Manu. He was the 3rd born in a
family of four with his sisters Lina, Lydia and
Lillian. He attended his early school at the Dr. Ribeiro’s Goan
School in Nairobi. His mother passed away
in his tender years, hence
he and his three sisters
were sent to Belgaum in Goa to continue their education
and be raised among the close family
there. As the only boy in the family, he was
doted on, Mana Bertil and Mana Marinha deserve a special mention
serving him food
and snacks first so he got
the best. His
mother lovingly embroidered
his baby photo surrounded by flowers which
he kept and is in his house
until today. As is the group photo
of his father in the treasury department surrounded by his colleagues,
mainly Goan in those days.
Dr Manu attended
high school at St Paul's
high school in Belgaum and
secondary school at St Stanislaus high
School in Bandra,
Bombay. He did his
junior bachelor of Science, in St Xaviers college Bombay, and was enrolled to study medicines
in B.J.Medical College,Ahmedabad, Gujarat University. The government decision of that time was that students of different states
be brought together
to study in a particular college and not of their choice.
This resulted in Gujeratis,
Maharashtrians, South Indians,
Singh's, Punjabis and the one Goan study together, and form friendships that would last a lifetime.
As a true Goan during his medical degree, he taught
his friends to let their
hair down and take a break
from studies, leading
them in socializing,
sports and singing. He smuggled Feni
from Goa through the customs at Castle Rock, when travelling by train.
And introduced it to them.
He was famous for
his beautiful baritone, with the song
“old man river'
a rendition of which he was asked
to sing during
the 1987 class
reunion, he also
led the hockey team
of Gujarat University as its Captain
in 1953.
As a young
man, while he was in Goa on holiday from his studies, the time came
around for the Saligao feast, which was arranged in his village
vado,
the problem was there were not enough
girls. Dr Manu
was given the task of finding and bring girls from East Africa from other villages to make the
numbers, Marie Couto,
fondly remembers, him cycling to Asagao to ask permission of her father,
for her to come and spend the night with
her uncle in Saligao, just to attend
the dance.
Dr Manu, went
on to do his post
graduate degrees in
the UK, a diploma- DLO RCP&S in ENT in London from
the royal college of physicians and surgeons, and his FRCS in Otolaryngology. He came back to Kenya and has been in consultative practice as an ENT
since 1962.
In 1972 he married Dr Clara D'Cruz
at St Francis Xavier's
Church with a reception at the Goan Gymkhana, the hall was overflowing with more than 400
guests, the reception had to be a stand up cocktail reception.
He
was very passionate and derived much satisfaction much from practicing medicine. He was renowned as an ENT consultant in Kenya, and many of us here today have been treated
by him. In 1963,
he was awarded the Order of the Grand Warrior of Kenya, by the Government of Kenya and in 1992 the Paul Harris Fellow award by the Rotary Club of Mombasa in recognition of his work.
He held a large number of professional national appointments, he was Sessional ENT Consultant
to Kenyatta National Hospital, Aga Khan Hospital, Nairobi, Hospital, Mater
Hospital Nairobi. (started ENT clinic at Mater Hospital). ENT Consultant to the
Armed Forces of Kenya. Honorary Lecturer in Otolaryngology - University of Nairobi and the
Schools of Nursing of the Nairobi and Aga Khan Hospitals. He held the chair
of the Kenya Medical Association, the Association of Professional Societies of East Africa and the East African
Medical Journal Committee. He was the
Founder Chairman of the Medical
Guild of St. Luke and a board
member of Medical
Practitioners and Dentists Board
of Kenya. He was the
Chairman
–
Kenya Society for Deaf Children
and the Founder
and Executive Director of Kenya Ear Foundation
Internationally, he was a member, Executive Committee of the
International Federation of ORL Societies (IFOS), Member Executive Committee
of the Pan-African
Federation of ORL Societies (PAFOS), member Executive Committee of International Society of Audiology and
a Consultant to IMPACT Foundation, UK
As an ENT Surgeon with a bias towards Otology,
he was involved with the Kenya Society
for Deaf Children for
over 25 years,
during which time
many Educational and Technical Schools
for the Deaf were set up. He also helped establish and initially managed, the Operation Ear Drop and IMPACT UK
activities in Kenya
His main contribution is the establishment of the Kenya Ear Foundation (KEF) in 1985.
He did this because of the vast reservoir of ear disease
and the dearth of local
ear surgeons and surgical facilities in rural Kenya. He has created
awareness amongst Kenyans
on the modalities available for the Prevention and Management of Deafness
In the Rural ENT Clinics
Project, he headed local volunteer medical and nursing
staff, with the help of the Kenya Air Force held
free ENT Camps
all over Kenya. Over 60,000
patients received treatment.
In Project Hearing, foreign senior ENT Surgeons
were
invited from India,
Canada, UK, Sweden,
Norway, Thailand and USA to donate
their surgical skills performing over 6000 surgeries.
In the Noise
Project to
prevent Noise
Induced deafness,
he initiated
the required legislation. Noise Surveys in factories were carried out, Management advised and over 8000 factory workers were screened.
He
established KEF Centers
at strategically based Mission Hospitals to provide Hearing
Aid services as well
as screening of neonates.
Latterly, with Swedish
support, he helped
establish Hearing Aid Centres
at Mathari and Kaplong where
Hearing Aids were dispensed at subsidized rates
or for free (specially for scholars).
The medical camps had Dr Manu and Clara traversing the country, there
were many adventures
on these trips,
travelling to Lodwar
on one medical trip, in Harold de Souza's, 4 seater plane,
just after take-off, the pilot suddenly
turns around and said, the door is not closed, and had to descend to close the
door. To make
matters worse, when
they had almost reached, around Marsabit, Dr. Manu
turned to Clara and in
Konkani said, “this plane has a problem.” Truly, the landing wheels would
not come down, the option was
to turn around and crash land in Nairobi, luckily the
pilot had an engineering background,
and fiddled with the controls while
all passengers prayed, and the wheels came
down.
Dr. Manu
was very involved with social activities, and was very keen
on the culture and history
of the Goans in Kenya and their contribution to Kenya history and politics, and was a font of knowledge for any author writing on the
subject. He often lamented of his lack of information during the period he was away
from Kenya studying. He was a trouble
shooter for the community and was often the
one everyone turned
to mediate and arbitrate in a variety
of problems.
He was a Founder Trustee and
later Chairman of the Rotary
Trust till 2013, he was Chairman
and honorary member of Goan Gymkhana, Nairobi and Director and honorary member of
the United Kenya Club.
He founded the Goan Cultural
Society in 1978, which
ran for 10 years, with the objectives to
maintain, promote & bring awareness of the various facets of Goan Culture, not only to the
young Goans who were the targets but
also to the other Kenyans.
Programs like the Mando Festival, Goan Theatre, Goan Food Festivals, were annual
features with Goans from as far as Mombasa participating. These were popular occasions and the Anniversary Dinner Dances were
graced by High Commissioner
of India, Ambassadors of Brazil,
Canada and other dignitaries. Konkani
classes were organized, Mando and the Portuguese
dances including the Vira dances were taught to the youth, by “elder” Goan
Members
He formed friends of the
Nairobi
South Cemetery to collect funds for its rehabilitation, the friends put up a memorial plaque and upgraded gravestones of the individual
graves to give respect and recognize pioneer members
of the
Goan community who were buried at the Nairobi South Cemetery.
We found a piece titled “Thinking out Loud”
and if you will
allow us
to quote his
words “Historically,
if I recall correctly, we had Goan clubs in Kisumu, Eldoret,
Nyeri, and
maybe Kitale
and Nanyuki. Some of these assets have either been disposed off or reverted to
the government in case of
others. I know that the Goan Gymkhana was allocated land where Utalii College is now located, it reverted to the Government because we had not developed it as per the conditions
of the grant. We could not even produce evidence of expenditure on the plot, which
the lands
commissioner was prepared to reimburse! Susegaad!” With the dwindling
number of Goans in
Kenya, Dr
Manu envisaged
a trust which would be in charge of all Goan properties under one umbrella.
Dr Manu was very fond of his food, particularly Caramel Custard, Goan Coconut Prawn Curry, and Spaghetti Bolognese. He would decide
how good an Italian
restaurant,
by their spaghetti
Bolognese. He loved his Volvo and kept it in pristine condition, he loved his garden, especially flowering plants, anthuria
and crotons, spending many hours
in the garden and his passion for reading never
abating. He liked to associate with his friends
in the Goan Gymkhana on a Saturday
afternoon, and enjoy his
beer with them,
something he had
to give up when he fell sick.
With Clara’s love of travel,
Dr Manu accompanied her on many
trips and symposiums and they met many
VIP's, including, the
current Japanese emperor
and Mother Teresa.
During his long illness,
he would often say he was in the transit
lounge waiting for the call. He suffered from
insomnia and could
not read his books or spend time
in the garden. His call came
on 22nd November, where he will
have eternal rest
and be in the
beautiful gardens of heaven.
A great mind
and a noble soul, he will be truly missed
by his beloved
wife Clara, his family and friends and
especially the Goan
community where he gave so much of his time.
Eternal rest grant to Manu, O Lord, and may perpetual
light shine down upon him. May his
soul rest in peace. Amen.
